Chasing Ghosts
by Fiction Affliction
Summary: Prauge, Czech Republic, 1996 When a mission to recover a stolen CIA NOC list goes horribly wrong, leaving almost an entire M:I Force dead, IMF Agents Kellan Davies and Declan Gormley are tasked to track down the man responsible and bring him to justice. That man's name is Ethan Hunt. Set during first Mission:Impossible film. Directed by: Brian DePalma. Released: 1996


**Prologue**

Richmond, Virgina

March 1996

The sun is bright and the sky is blue, with a light breeze blowing about as a man who looks to be in his early to mid forties steps out of a taxi as it stops in front of the Richmond Public Library. The man stands tall at about six feet even with an athletic and muscular build. He walks with a purpose. He has dark brown hair that lays neatly on his head. The man is dressed in a black leather jacket, over a white button down shirt, dark blue jeans. The man walks into the grandiose entrance hall and walks up to the front desk where a very pretty young lady was typing away at the front desk. She looked up from her screen and smiled at the man when he saw her.

"Good morning, sir and welcome to the Richmond Public Library. How may I help you?" The man smiled before replying.

"Good morning. I'm with the Virginia Department of Transportation. The head office sent me down here to pick up a CD Rom of a presentation for an upcoming Transpo Conference in Houston. I'm not very computer savvy. My bosses said you guys could show me how to get it into the computer and start it up?" At this the young woman got a particular look in her eyes. She reached underneath her sitting area and grabbed a particular CD Rom disc.

"Oh, of Course! Follow me, sir. We'll get you all set up in one of our private research rooms. It has a computer we can get your program uploaded to."

"Why, thank you."

The man followed the librarian into a room up a set of stairs and towards the back. The librarian turned on the computer and popped the disc in. The man thanked her for her help and sat down in front of the computer as the librarian closed the door behind her. The man plugged in a set of headphones and put them on.

The computer screen was a bright blue for a few minutes, before becoming a black screen. Green lettering then appeared: Program uploaded successfully. Please press enter.

The man pressed the "enter" key and when he did, a small needle popped out of the button and pricked his finger, taking some blood with it as it retreated back into the button. The man didn't even wince or make a sound of pain. He knew it was coming. After a few moments of this, the green lettering was back on the screen.

Processing ...Identity Confirmed. Chase, William, W. IMF Team Leader. IMF Field Operations Unit 04. Commencing Transmission.

The black screen changed, and soon the seal of the Impossible Mission Force appeared in front of William Chase on the screen. Then, though his headphones came the voice of Will's direct superior IMF Operations Director Eugene Kittridge.

"Good morning, Will. I hope you feel rested from your vacation. Now, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? A few days ago, a CIA NOC list, a list containing the identity of all our deep cover agents in Eastern Europe, was stolen from CIA Headquarters in Langley. The list is split into two halves. One half has the agents' code names, the other lists their true names. We have identified Alexander Golitsyn, an attache at the US Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic as the culprit. He has the half with the code names. Golitsyn intends to sell the NOC list at a reception at the embassy. A team led by Jim Phelps has already been assigned the mission. His team consisting of Jack Harmon, Sarah Davies, Hannah Williams, Jim's wife, Claire, and point man Ethan Hunt will take photographic evidence of the NOC list, tail Golitsyn to the meeting and apprehend Golitsyn and the buyer and recover the NOC list." As Kittridge said the name of Phelp's team, their IMF Personnel File appeared on screen, along with a picture of them.

'If Phelps is already assigned, what the hell do you need me for?' Will thought but thought better than to ask Kittridge that. As if on cue, Kittridge continued.

"Your first assignment back, Will is not that glamorous or action packed I'll admit. But, it's an important one. Your mission, Will, should you choose to accept it, is to recon the area and gather intelligence to provide to Phelps and his team for their mission. On the night of their mission your team will be positioned at key points in the area and shadow Phelps' team and provide backup if needed. Your team has already been assembled, selected from your usual operatives." Personnel File's again appeared on screen in front of Will as Kittridge read each name.

"David Merrick can hack into any computer system they have. His job will be to scope out their hardware and compile a sort of digital map, so Jack Harmon can find his way around easier and won't have any surprises. Pilot, Declan Gormley will provide aerial photographs from above in a helicopter and scope out the Embassy's external security systems. Sasha Bering will be inside the embassy and keep tabs on Golitsyn, where he goes, she goes. Finally, Kellan Davies will act as your point man for this mission. His job will be to go inside the embassy and mark any points of interest. Egress points, emergency exits, positions of the Marine Guards that kind of thing. How you get Davies inside the Embassy is entirely up to you. Also, your team's placement and roles on the night of the Embassy operation is entirely up to you."

Will nodded as he listened to Kittridge, it all seemed pretty straightforward. He had a great team too. David Merrick is an experienced field agent with exceptional expertise in hacking. He's around thirty years old and has been with the IMF since 1989, most of that time as a member of Will's teams. He has black hair, brown eyes and an average build. Declan Gormley and Kellan Davies are both at the relatively early stages in their IMF careers. They are actually pretty good friends, having attended IMF training at the CIA's "The Farm" in 1992 togethor where their instructor was none other than Will himself. Gormley is Irish and was an Irish Air Force Pilot before being recruited. He is an exceptional pilot. He has brown hair, light green eyes, caucasion skin and a muscular build. Kellan Davies (No relation to Sarah Davies) is pretty much the 'Ethan Hunt' of his team. A former US Marine, Kellan is skilled at hand to hand and weapons combat. He is very good at using disguises and dualets and speaks several languages, some more fluently than others. Kellan and Declan are both 26 years old. Kellan has blond hair, blue eyes, caucasion skin and a muscular build. Sasha Bering has been with the IMF since 1980 and is a veteran field agent with a very diverse skill set, she can hold her own in almost any situation she finds herself in. She is African-American with dark hair, brown eyes and an athletic and curvy build. Kittridge continued.

"Your flight for Prague leaves tomorrow morning. You will meet your team at a safehouse there. Phelps and his team will arrive in a week's time. The intelligence you and your team compile will be given to Phelps for him to brief his team with. Your assignment this time is rather boring, Will, I know, but it is a very important one."

"You got that right, Gene." Will muttered to himself. "Hit the nail right on the fucking head, there."

"This transmission" Eugene Kittridge's recorded voice said. "My welcome back gift to you, will self-destruct in five seconds, good luck Mr. Chase and thanks again."

The screen went blank and a small plume of smoke rose from the disc slot in the computer. After it cooled off, Will extracted what was left of the disc and threw it away. He left the room and walked back downstairs, he nodded to the contact at the front desk and walked out the library's front door.

Stopping outside, Will pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "Impossible mission, indeed." He muttered sarcastically to himself in between puffs. William knocked some ash off and started walking down the street.

He would soon find out how very wrong he was.

**The Cast **

**Timothy Olyphant as William Chase**

** Alexander Ludwig as Kellan Davies**

** Johnathan Rhys-Meyers as Declan Gromley (Yes, his character from M:I III)**

**Daniel Radcliffe as David Merrick**

** Halle Berry as Sasha Bering**

** Henry Czerny as Eugene Kittridge (His character from Mission:Impossible)**

**A/N: Hey, guys. Thank you for reading the prologue for my story "Chasing Ghosts." I am coming back to fanfiction writing after a very long hiatus and I would appreciate your honest feedback. In case you haven't realized it yet, "Chasing Ghosts" takes place in 1996 during the events of the first M:I film, so please keep that in mind as you read. Also, the character of Declan Gormley is a canon character, appearing in 2006's "Mission:Impossible III" as a member of Ethan Hunt's team. He is portrayed by Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and has always been one of my favorite characters in the franchise. According to the M:I Wiki, Gormley was born in 1977. For the purposes of this story, I have changed his birth year to 1970.**

**Thank you again for reading and please review!**


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